IFTTT Creates a Robot to Work for You on Internet Automatically

IFTTT is an abbreviated form of If This Then That. If you visit the website, nothing is clear about its working or what it is all about. Actually, the site name makes thing clear but it is tricky to understand. So, I will give you an simple example where I used IFTTT.

Recently, I went to WordCamp to deliver a talk on WordPress Blogging Basics. There, many people captured photos of event including mine and I wanted those photographs. So, instead of asking photographs to each and everyone here’s how IFTTT create a robot for me to get all photos of mine automatically.

Today, the trend is- “whatever happens gets updated on Facebook” and so happened with the photographs too. People posted those photos on Facebook just after the event and tagged me. Now, instead of looking out for each tag notification and downloading, IFTTT came into play.

Using IFTTT, I created a recipe in which Facebook and Dropbox were connected. The function of this recipe was to look for photos on Facebook in which I get tagged and download that photo to a specified folder on Dropbox account.

IFTTT can be used to automate regular tasks on various web services by integrating them with each other. If this happens then that should happen. Here, that action is automatically triggered by IFTTT. It is like a Robot working for you on web as per commands.

Let me give you some more example: If someone tags you on Photo on Facebook then upload that photo to Flickr, If someone mentions you on Twitter then alert on Gtalk or If you star some item on Google Reader, it will be updated as Status on Twitter.

There are number of services available on IFTTT which are called channels. You just have to specify THIS, Trigger action and THAT.

This- Channel where action will happen. (Facebook)

Trigger- Action taken by you. (Uploaded new Photo)

That- Channel where IFTTT will take action automatically.

I listed some quick examples that came in to my mind but possibilities are endless as you can connect almost any service with any. Let me know what all creative recipes you come up with IFTTT by commenting below.

Good to see your comment after a long time, Ajay.
I have been reading about IFTTT and found really really cool uses recipes available to use. Yahoo! Pipe was something similar which I used years ago for some blogger widget but IFTTT things easy even for a novice user.

About cross posting, there are so many 3rd party sophisticated apps available already and sometimes network itself has one like Facebook has Twitter app.